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Living Life Balanced...what does that mean exactly? It depends who you ask! A balanced lifestyle is going to look different for every individual person. For me, it means being healthy; mind, body and soul. Digging a little deeper...it means that I am happy with what I am doing daily, that I am being a good person, that I feel a connection with my family, friends and community and that I feel healthy and energized each day. There are 9 dimensions of wellness and each one is interconnected with the other. If one is thrown off, it is likely to impact most of the others. The 9 dimensions include:
While I mainly help others focus on the physical aspects of wellness, I also help to look into the other dimensions to provide an overall balance for my clients. In the physical dimension, I help others to see that there is no such thing as being perfect...and that is ok! You have to do the best with what you can and try to be a little better each day. There is also no such thing as the perfect diet. The key to a healthy diet is variety. Eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, proteins - mainly whole foods, but also understand that a treat here and there is not a problem. Enjoy your pizza, burger, chips, beer, wine, chocolate, cookies etc., just do so in moderation. Aim to keep about 80% of your diet clean and enjoy whatever you want for the other 20%. This will help to keep you sane, from binge eating and craving the "unhealthy" food/drinks. If you go 100% all in, you can only keep that up for so long without reaching a breaking point. That is the problem with fad diets, restricting foods and/or cutting too many calories. Be active in the way that fits you best. If you hate the exercises you are doing, you won't keep it up. Find what you love (or at least like or tolerate) and work on that. Try to get at least 30 minutes of activity 5 days a week. Does that seem out of reach for you? Then just try to do a little more than you did yesterday, move your body, feel alive! Aim to get 7-9 hours of sleep each night. Make it a priority, keep working at it until it is a routine. Sleep is so important to all aspects of your life and helps to provide the energy you need to do everything else during your day. Don't forget to visit your doctor! Do you go to your primary care doctor, eye doctor, dentist, dermatologist, etc. routinely? If not, start going! Take care of yourself - an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Again, you don't have to be perfect, just do a little better than you did yesterday. Eat well, live well, be happy, love others, love yourself. 
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A health coach bridges the gap that doctors, personal trainers, and registered dietitians don't have the time or resources to fill with their patients and clients. What does that mean exactly? If you have ever walked out of your doctors office knowing that you need to get healthier but you weren't given any direction, that is where I come in! I work with you to find and address the health, lifestyle and fitness barriers that get in the way of your goals. I will guide you to achieve these goals so you can finally lose that weight, gain muscle, prevent disease, manage stress, transform your health and live a fuller, more balanced life (or whatever your goal may be)! A health coach has strengths in the knowledge and skills related to anatomy, kinesiology, exercise physiology and a broad scope of practice in nutrition, including energy balance, macronutrient intake, food sources of specific nutrients, nutritional information, food and hydration strategies to control appetite and for performance improvement as well as communication skills and behavior change techniques. A health coach is a wellness expert and supportive mentor who helps motivate you to make positive health choices through education and lifestyle behavior change. Through effective communication I help to implement small changes at a pace that is comfortable for you so you can meet your health goals for life-long results and well-being. There is always something that will work, the trick is finding what works best for YOU. No matter the concern, I listen to your struggles and help you navigate around the world of contradictory nutritional advice, get around your barriers and experiment with finding what works for you specifically. Wellness is a full integration of physical, mental and spiritual well-being. It is a complex interaction that leads to quality of life. If you come to me with one specific problem that you want to address, I help you to explore all the other overlapping dimensions of wellness as part of the process. As you start to transform you develop an awareness and gain more concrete tools to work with as I continue to provide education, support, stability and empowerment. I don't promote one specific diet or way of eating. Instead, I listen to your needs, your habits, your lifestyle and help you come up with the best plan of action. Maybe you need to gain more energy, lose a little weight, manage your stress or sleep better, whatever it is...I am here to guide you! If it is out of my scope of practice, I will help you find an appropriate practitioner who can help. How do I do health coaching? I help in whatever way works best for you. Here are some examples of what I do, but I am always looking for new ways to reach others!
If you are ready to make some life-long changes, please e-mail me at elenamccown@gmail.com. I can't wait to work with you!  We had a BBQ the other day and our friends brought over beef kabobs and fried rice as the two main dishes. I always like contributing a fun veggie recipe so I decided to make a dip based off of one of my favorite sandwichs - a Bánh mì. It turned out so good and was gone almost instantly! While it was amazing as a dip, it would also make a great bruschetta! I decided to use a package of BBQ Jackfruit as the base because it was a quick and healthy - meaty yet veggie - option. It really does taste like meat! You could also start with packaged plain jackfruit and flavor it as you wish OR substitute with pulled pork.  Servings: 6 Prep/Total Time: 15 minutes Ingredients:
Directions:
 This is the packaged jackfruit I used. |
About MeI am a food loving, activity seeking health coach who resides in Franklin, TN with my husband and two sweet dogs (Lola & Penny). AllergiesI believe everyone should eat balanced and not cut food groups if you don't medically need to. All foods can fit in a healthy diet. Unfortunately, I have to avoid gluten and also limit myself with dairy, so my goal is to provide healthy, gluten-free/dairy-free recipes so EVERYONE can enjoy all foods, even if you do have to cut out certain food groups. My recipes are encouraged for everyone to eat, not just for those with sensitivities/allergies! Most of my recipes can be easily converted by using real dairy and whole-wheat in place of my allergy-free substitutes. SearchLooking for something specific? Everything can be found by category under the "Life" and "Recipes" sections on my website or you can search below. Archives
January 2021
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Elena McCown, LLC Health Coach in Franklin, TN